Nicotine Patches
by WhereTheMildThingsAre
Summary: A series of drabbles and one-shots  perhaps with the occasional two-shot  revolving around Sherlock and Lestrade.


Hello all! Gosh, it's been a bit since I've submitted anything to this site. Unfortunately, I've hit a massive wall of Writer's Block with my Canonical Sherlock Holmes stories, but I hope to be over it soon. I've left them all sitting for some months now. Yikes! But anyway, we're not here to talk about that.

Maybe this will seem silly to some of you, but I really got an insane urge to make a little drabble/one-shot collection revolving around Sherlock and Lestrade. I've always enjoyed their interaction in the Canon, and it seems that's transferred to this lovely little show. As far as content, some will admittedly be outright slashy because that's simply how I write. But if that's not your cup of tea, there will be just as many non-slash entries as well. I will not be putting a warning up for an slash material, based simply on the fact that I don't think any male/male or female/female interaction warrants a warning in the first place. If that's simply not something you want anything to do with, thank you for stopping in anyhow. If it means I lose some potential readers, that's quite alright. I really hope you don't think me pompous, but this is a matter that I'm quite unapologetic about. It's nothing personal. :)

I'm really just letting this one take me where it will! Whatever pops into my head. I'm not a spontaneous writer at all, but considering that's how this whole exercise started, I figured that it might not be such a bad thing to step outside my routine and give it a shot. I sincerely doubt there will be a rating over T, just to make things clear. Each chapter will have a designated rating and reason for that rating in case it needs stating. The 'T' posted out front is simply to allow me wiggle room.

Well, excuse the ramble. I'll just get on with it, haha. If you've stayed this long, thank you very much for putting up with my big mouth (or should I say my dancing fingers?) and I hope you enjoy anything that ends up here. As ever, constructive criticism is appreciated!

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything here, quite obviously. "Sherlock" and its affiliated characters, plots, etc. are not mine. I just like to play with them a little.

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Title:** Desperate  
**Characters:** DI Lestrade, John Watson; mentions of Sherlock Holmes  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Spoilers for "A Study in Pink" if you haven't seen it. But then, why would you be reading this? Haha.  
**Word Count:** 578  
**Summary:** Lestrade contemplates where he stands with Sherlock and how John might change that. Lestrade POV.

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"Why did he do that? Why did he have to leave?" I asked, shrugging on my coat, a frown at home on my features.

Alright, admittedly a surprise drugs bust was probably not the most eloquent of moves on my part. But when he insisted on toying with me like this—like he always did—I stopped playing nice. I didn't really want to find anything anyway. Supposing I did, I don't know if I could actually summon the will to bring charges against him. That's not to say I wouldn't like to see him stew in a cell for a night, for he's certainly tried my nerves enough in the past for me to fantasize about it, but when it came right down to it, he was too great an asset for us to lose. Or at least I thought so; very few of my colleagues seemed to share this thought.

John Watson, standing three feet across from me in his quiet manner of dress, shrugged absently. "You know him better than I do."

I almost wanted to smile at that. Almost. Ha! If only he knew! Instead, I continued to pull my coat on, trying very hard not to keep my words bottled up. It had really been more of a rhetorical question.

"I've known him for five years," I told the other man, shaking my head slightly. "And no I don't."

This produced a very slight smile—more of a short tweaking of the lips—on his part. Apparently he'd picked up on the fact that he was one of a limited number of people relegated to Sherlock Holmes's inner circle. And was it me, or did he know that that circle currently consisted of one? Was that why he smiled?

"So, why do you put up with him?" he asked.

"Because I'm desperate, that's why," I told him.

I was leaving. That's all I needed to say on the matter. He didn't need to know what drove that desperation. Didn't need to know that, despite how it might seem that I was only interested in Sherlock as a means to solve those baffling cases I might come across, I actually rather liked the fellow. Or that, in my own way, I'd thought of us as something almost like friends. I couldn't tell the war veteran, clad in his unassuming Aran jumper. After all, I barely knew him. I wasn't about to allow my innermost thoughts to come spilling out only to wash over those plain, brown loafers he was wearing. That wasn't me, even if he did have one of those faces that made you want to ramble on about all manner of things. I paused in the midst of my retreat. As much as I wanted to leave, something made me stop at the door.

"And because Sherlock Holmes is a great man," I appended, turning once more to face him. "And I think one day, if we're very, very lucky, he might even be a good one."

I held his gaze for what might have been a moment longer than was needed, but I could tell by the look on his face that on some level, he'd received my unspoken message. And so I left.

I quickly descended the flat's steps—all seventeen of them, as I recalled from one of Sherlock's lectures on being observant—eager to get my thoughts back on work. I couldn't make Sherlock a good man; five years had taught me that.

But John Watson could.

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Well, hopefully that wasn't completely terrible. I believe I forgot to mention... The title of this collection comes from a scene in "A Study in Pink". That will be in here at some point, but I just thought it was cute that they were both sporting the patch. It's what inspired this shindig, after all. Well, if you don't think it was too awful, I'd be happy to see you back. Either way, thank you for taking the time to read! It's very much appreciated.

~Mild


End file.
